Congress hits out at BJP over ED mentioning Priyanka Gandhi in PMLA case

The Congress on Thursday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being mentioned in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s chargesheet in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, alleging that it was a conspiracy by the ruling party.

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra purchased about five acres of agricultural land in Haryana from Delhi-based real estate agent HL Pahwa in 2006 and sold it back to him in 2010. ED has also noted that her husband Robert Vadra purchased about 40 acres of land from Pahwa and later sold it back to him.

Pahwa was the same agent who sold land to NRI businessman CC Thampi, who has been linked to Sanjay Singh Bhandari, whom multiple agencies are investigating in a case involving money laundering, violation of foreign exchange and black money laws, and the Official Secrets Act. Thampi has been accused of helping Bhandari hide the proceeds of crime. In a previous chargesheet, the ED alleged that Vadra is a close associate of Thampi.

“Look at what they’ll do ahead of the elections, it’s just the beginning. They are not doing it for the first time, they hatch such conspiracies when elections approach. Let them hatch conspiracies,” said Congress leader Pawan Khera.

As senior Congress leaders gathered in Nagpur to commemorate the party’s 138th Foundation Day, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told reporters that the names of “many people” were linked with the ED before the Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said, “They [the BJP] are so scared of the Gandhi family. Back then, the British were scared of Gandhi. And now, today’s government too is scared of Gandhi. That is why the Central government, Narendra Modi’s government, puts the Gandhi family into such issues and conspires to divert people from the real issues.”

Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar claimed that the development was a part of the BJP’s plan to “round up” all Congress leaders, and that he himself had been issued a notice regarding a case that had already been withdrawn.

“They [BJP] feel we are afraid of going to jail. No one is afraid of it. We know the law of the land. They can’t use these institutions to threaten us. To save democracy and India, we are fighting,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar also said that the ED was continuously taking actions against Opposition leaders. Kakkar said that she would refrain from commenting on Priyanka Gandhi’s issue in particular, as she was “not aware” about it.

“Three of our (AAP’s) leaders were sent to jail, two are still in jail. The trials have not begun yet and they have not been convicted. Yet, they have been in jail for so long. The law of ‘guilty until proven innocent’ is in effect, which is very dangerous,” she said at a press conference in Delhi.